Throughout Scripture, water is a symbol of abundant life. In the waters of baptism, we are reborn as Christ’s body in the world, commissioned to proclaim God’s good news and to share in God’s reconciliation of creation. In the waters of baptism (often in fonts or pools inside of our church buildings), we are given new life.
Outside of our church buildings, we know that access to clean water can provide new life for communities, opening up opportunities for financial and physical well-being. Around the world, improved sources of water, like wells, help to ensure that families don’t have to choose between traveling long distances for safe water or risking their health by using nearby, unsanitary sources. Irrigation canals in countries such as El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Botswana make it possible for farmers to raise crops more efficiently, to better feed their families and weather lean times between growing seasons.
Clean water means life – abundant life in the here-and-now and in the fullness of God’s reign to come.
This message is excerpted from “Water & life abundant” by Ryan P. Cumming in the January/February 2019 Gather magazine.
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